PICK UP & SLAY

New weapons, a dragon and much more in daring addition to Doom franchise

- CHERYL MULLIN

Doom: The Dark Ages (PEGI 18) PS5, Xbox X/S, PC

AS A franchise, Doom has always pushed boundaries.

A pioneer of the first-person shooter (FPS), when it first arrived in 1993, its early 3D graphics were groundbreaking, its gameplay fresh and unique.

The next decade saw a steady drip of games until 2004 when Doom 3, which steered the franchise into survival horror territory, seemed to spell the end of an incredible run.

Then 2016 arrived and with it a daring reboot in Doom, which managed to refine what was by then, an old-school FPS formula.

Four years later Doom Eternal arrived, introducing parkour-esque skills for the Slayer, who could now climb walls and dash.

This double whammy was always going to be tough to follow, but I think The Dark Ages is very much up to the task.

Billed as a prequel to 2016's game, this title finds the Doom Slayer as the last hope of a kingdom fighting against the forces of Hell in a techno-medieval setting.

While its predecessors emphasised fast-paced, almost acrobatic combat, this title favours a more grounded, strategic approach with the Slayer able to lay waste to dozens of demons in a single blow.